The gift that keeps on giving is sadly underused. I’m not talking about a puppy. I’m referring to what might become a relic if people don’t start having obsessions with receiving things in the snail mail again: Gift of the Month Clubs. In particular, Zine of the Month Club is one such variation, which should rank right up there with Beer of the Month Club or Cigar of the Month Club. For $75 a year, Mark Price Is a Factory will send off a zine each month by various artists published by them (or rather, him). Of course, you could just buy them individually, but that’d take the fun out of getting a neat-o present buried among the credit card statements and cable TV flyers in the mail. You canceled your newspaper and magazine subscriptions long ago when you bought your BlackBerry or iPhone. Now’s the time to start up those things you used to like before they went old school. Just make sure the Hot Sauce of the Month Club doesn’t come in the same delivery as these zines.

My pal Jeff Staple just announced the launch of reed pages, his magazine venture. I’m always impressed with him and his ability to spread his mission and ideas across all mediums from consulting to apparel, digital, and now back to the basics of awesome print and paper (this looks so good, I’d categorize it as a book). And anytime he launches something new, I think about a good way I can bring it to my own readers.

Yesterday, Rick Smolan released the top secret project he’s been working on with HP: THE OBAMA TIME CAPSULE, a customizable book. Using the HP print-on-demand technology we last showed you with MagCloud, people can weave their own names, photos and messages into an historic large format book featuring the work of the world's leading photographers, graphic artists and writers.

The book can be extensively personalized by answering a few questions and uploading photos to the project website. THE OBAMA TIME CAPSULE offers readers seven different ways to personalize the book. If you’ve been courting your own ISBN, you’ll come close with co-author credit on the front cover and a photograph of you on the back (as well as inside amongst celebrity supporters). Each collectible copy of the book is printed one at a time. Most publishing industry analysts agree that print-on-demand will be the publishing model of the future.

"From grass roots Facebook campaigns to viral YouTube videos, the Obama campaign took the presidential race to a new level in terms of personalization," said Smolan, co-founder of Against All Odds Productions (AAO). And the book follows suit: Using the Internet, publishers have fewer barriers to market and by only printing what is necessary, excess inventory and waste are eliminated.The OBAMA TIME CAPSULE (retail price $64.95) is now available exclusively through Amazon at an introductory price of $34.95. Additional sponsors for the book include Google, AOL, Facebook, Glam Media, Blurb, Microsoft, eMotion and NewPage.

Ladies and gentleman: Our very own Sao Paulo correspondent Phuong-Cac is a now a published author. Hooray! Total Sao Paulo: A Guide To The Unexpected is out today! The book is all about, you guessed it, Sao Paulo"“ features maps, illustrations, a slang glossary (very important, man) as well as a curated list of the best restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, galleries, museums and other can’t miss things around the city.

All the photographs and illustrations featured inside are from talented people living in Sao Paulo"“ and launching with the book is a local listings site that will have magazine-style stories on Sao Paulo bands, artists, markets, and everything else you need to know about this amazing city.

Wanna celebrate the launch? Thought so. Head over to Carmichael Gallery in LA on Saturday, May 9th from 3-7pm and listen to performances by Andrea Ferraz, watch a capoeira demonstration, and hear DJ Marlon Fuentes play a special set of Sao Paulp legends. Not in LA this weekend? Just jump up and down on your bed after you’ve bought the book.

Congrats PC! Pictures of “inside the book” after the jump (looks fantastic)…

Visionaire rarely, if ever, fits into the traditional magazine category. For starters it’s only published three times a year and each issue is more of a curated art project around a certain theme. For their holiday issue (we aren’t sure which holiday) they’ve gone after pop-up books. Pulling in hotshot art/fashion names like Gareth Pugh, Sophie Calle and Alasdair McLellan, each artist created one pop-up book … well a one-page book. Altogether the collection makes up 11 images in a very attractive case. Production for all the issues of Visionaire are extremely limited and very pricey. This issue alone will set you back website. But if any of you do shell out the cash for this one we would love to see some hands on pictures.

While Steven Soderbergh's film Che has gotten mixed reviews on the festival circuit, there's one piece of media, Che: A Graphic Biography, that provides an indisputably great snapshot of the Argentinian Marxist revolutionary's life and death. Created by longtime cartoonist Spain Rodriguez — one of the original members of Zap Comics with Robert Crumb — the illustrated life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara is lovingly told in the tradition of underground political comics. You'll find details on parts of his life you've heard about (Latin American motorcycle adventures, leadership in Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement) and many you haven't (severe bouts of asthma, extensive African travels).

Sao Paulo street artist extraordinaire Titi Freak tells stories with his work, but now they’ll actually be in print. His first book, released in sponsorship by Nike Sportswear, is the 200-page Freak. It traces the Japanese-Brazilian’s art trajectory from his start as a fresh-faced comics newbie whose parents let him leave school to apprentice under a nationally known artist, to the murals, objects and installations that mark his work today. Titi Freak’s hollow-jowled characters are seen everywhere in Sao Paulo, as well as internationally. With his rapidly rising stardom "” and a catchy name like that "” it’s likely this guy will have even more stories to tell soon. Hit up the ever-prolific Choque Cultural if you want in on one of the 1,000 copies.

Kahlil Almustafa is from Queens, a place he describes as being located between New York City and Nowhere. “[It's] now overpopulated with Crown Fried Chickens, Popeye’s Chickens, Chester’s Chickens and take-out Chinese food stores that sell chicken wings and French fries as if it were the national dish of China. Queens, the home of bootleg DVD collections, 99-cent stores, birds chirping, sirens blazing, subprime mortgage crisis, suburban schizophrenia.”

If you didn’t notice, Almustafa has a way with words. His book Growing Up Hip Hop has been in a stack of books I’ve been meaning to check out for a long time"“ and I’m damn glad I pulled it aside this evening and dug right in.

It’s Valentine’s Day! You’re so f-ing sick of hearing that! But, it does give us a good segue (it’s sexy!) and nominal excuse (a gift for your Valentine!) to give away three copies of the Mr. and Mrs. Smith: The Global Shortlist that we featured last week. Of course you won’t actually get the copy by tomorrow, but like we’ve said before, what sweetheart doesn’t love the promise of a chance to get something at a later date? Comment below to enter, winners will be selected on Tuesday.

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Welcome

I'm a frequent-flyer-mile-collector trying to visit every country in the world, sushi addict that loves omakase. Founding Partner & Chairman at Undercurrent and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Since 2004 this site has been a place for me to share highlights from art, culture, technology and global trends that I care about.